Chinese tourists come to Los Angeles for shopping spree

Los Angeles has become a “shopping heaven” for Chinese tourists, China Press reports. As summer vacation approaches, Alhambra stores are filled with package-tour groups from mainland China. As the Chinese consumer price index (CPI) and Renminbi value rise, shopping in the United States has become relatively cheaper.

According to World Journal, Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau expected the number of Chinese tourists to hit a new record this year. LAX received more than 280,000 Chinese visitors last year, and Los Angeles has become the most popular destination for Chinese visitors coming to the United States. From 2006 to 2011, the number of Chinese visitors to Los Angeles has increased 150 percent.  

Travel agencies report that Chinese visitors not only purchase luxury goods such as handbags and cosmetics, but also products such as toothbrushes and shampoo. In Alhambra stores, it is not unusual to see groups of Chinese tourists on a shopping spree with their long lists. Miss Huang, who has been working in a travel agency for two years, said she once had a group of seven people changed their small van to a much bigger one to carry their luggage filled with new purchaces.